Lasting-tool



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W. O. GROSS.

A LASTING TOOL. No. 333,605. Patented Jan. 5', 1886.

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LASTING TOOL. v No. 333,605. Patented Jan. 5, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\WILLIAM C. GROSS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LASTlNG-TOOL.

EJPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,605, dated January 5,1886.

Application filed October 20, 1885. Serial No. 180,390. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

'Be it known that 1, WILLIAM G. Caoss, of Boston, Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Instrument or Tool for use in Lasting Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

The instrument or tool in which my present invention is comprised is what I term a temporary former a lever-likeinstrument having a front end approximating in outline that of the toe of the last-and it has been designed by me with more especial reference to its use in the process of lasting boots and shoes described and illustrated in my Letters Patent No. 324,304,0fAugust 11, 1885. I have shown in that patent two kinds of temporary formersthe one laterally expansible and collap llble and the other non-collapsible-the function of the said former in either event being to stretch and draw taut the upper over the toe of the last, this being accomplished by inserting the toe of the former under the inturned portions of the toe and adjoining edges of the upper, and then tilting said former on its heel, so as to lift the toe, and thus draw and stretch the corresponding portion of the upper. Such a device is effective for the toe portion proper, but does not draw and stretch to the requisite extent those portions of the side edges of the upper adjoining the toethat is to say, those portions of the side edges which intervene between the heel and the toe of the temporary former, (by heel intending the fulcrum on which the lever is tilted.)

It is the object of my invention to adapt the former to perform more eificiently the work last referred to. To this end I combine with the former proper a device (termed, for convenience sake, a lifter, which,when occasion demands, can be projected down below the normal fulcrum ofthe former, so as to become in effect the fulcrum, the result being that the rear or heel of the former is lifted, with the effect of raising the side edges of the former, and thus drawing and stretching the side edges of the upper, which are gathered over said former edges by the draw-cord or other instrumentality.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of the temporary former. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section of the same with The temporary former consists of a handle,

A, and a former proper, B, having its toe and side edges conformingin general way,to those of the last. The handle sets at an angle to the former proper, and at the point ofjunction of the two is the heel or fulcrum on which the instrument is tilted. The lifter in this instance consists of a lever, O, hinged to the handle at a, its longer arm extending up along the handle, audits lower arm extending down through a slot cut in the handle and former proper. The end of this arm terminates, normally, at a point not below the heel, and is held in the position by a spring, I), which spreads apart the handle and the upper arm of the lever.

In using the device it is placed in position on the last under the inturned edges of the toe or front portion of the upper, as indicated in Fig. 3, where the last is represented at w, the upper at y, and the draw-cord at z. The toe is first stretched and drawn taut by tilting the tool on its heel in the usual way, as indicated in the figure just referred to. Then by pressing together the upper arm of the lifter lever and handle the lower arm of the lifter-lever will be projected below the heel of the former, thus becoming the fulcrum and raising the heel of the former, if need be, as high as the previously-tilted toe, as indicated in Fig. 4. The result of this operation has before been described, and need not be repeated.

The lifter can be applied to any kind of temporary former,whether collapsible or non-collapsible. It can also be variously applied. It may be hinged, or it may slide, or it may move in other ways. The gist of my invention consists in providing for the former a fulcrum on which it can tilt, which fulcrum can be vertically shifted or moved,for the purposes hereinbefore stated.

I claim as my invention- 1. A tilting temporary former having a front end approximating in outline that of the toe of the last, and provided with a fulcrum-piece adjustable or movable vertically, so as to raise In testimony whereof I have signed my name [0 the former, substantially as and for the purto this specificatiomin the presence of two subposes hereinbefore set forth. scribing witnesses, on this 2d day of October,

2. The combination of a temporary former A. D. 1885. 5 having a front end approximating in outline that of the toe of the last, and a pivoted CROSS lifter-lever by which the heel of the former \Vitnesses: can be lifted whenever desired, substantially 1VIARCELLUS BAILEY,

as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth. J. E. VAN DOREN. 

